Woah! Editing and uploading a video is definitely exhausting. The second after I've done that, I went straight to watching a movie and didn't open my blogger for three straight days. It's just very tiring especially with my lack of filming equipment and experience.
So, I ordered some lights online. The funny thing is, they aren not for photography so I'll be doing a little experiment the moment they arrive. Hahahahaha! Until then, I am not going to do any makeup video filming. (Excuses!!! Hahaha!!!)
So, I was washing Adriel's feeding bottles this morning when I remembered the time when I was about to go crazy looking for ways how to feed Adriel properly.
Nutrition is one of the main concerns of children born with cleft palate as they cannot suck effectively, according to the numerous blogs and books that I've read, plus cleft reconstructive surgeries have weight requirements. The first option was for him to have an obturator for feeding, but a nurse told me that oral sores commonly happen to babies that have it. Nope, thank you. That would be the last thing I would want Adriel to have. Plus the couple that I talked to when we were lining up for consult, who also have a child with cleft lip and palate, who had an obturator, said that the obturator couldn't perfectly fit the baby's mouth as time goes by because they grow pretty fast and they have to change obturators frequently.
It was three days after Adriel was discharged from the ICU, the same day that we had our follow-up check up with our pediatrician when he had a low grade fever. Our pediatrician mentioned that he may not be getting enough milk from breastfeeding (having a cleft and all) and she also mentioned about a feeding bottle especially made for children with cleft palate. When we got home, Adriel was crying continuously and he still had fever. I immediately called up my cousin who is also a pediatrician and decided to come to their house and have Adriel checked. I also instructed my boyfriend, Adriel's father to buy the feeding bottle that our pediatrician mentioned earlier that day. I was so, so worried because he just won't stop crying.
When we arrived at my cousin's house, we immediately tried the Haberman feeding bottle (the bottle wich our pedia mentioned) out. It wasn't a big help. Maybe because the nipple was hard to suck for a baby less than a month old or maybe I was just not properly trained on how to use the bottle or maybe because of too much worry and exhaustion that I was not able to do it properly anymore. I didn't know, but the primary goal that time was to feed Adriel properly because he was not crying anymore. He was literally screaming! Screaming! Screaming very loudly and continuously, because he was very hungry. Three days of no proper food. Wouldn't you be cranky if it were you? Lol! Of course you'd be. And so, our last resort was to feed him using a medicine dropper, and alas! He fed! He fed like he wasn't able to feed for a week. Big gulps of milk, that I could even hear him swallow, but after 4 ml of milk, he showed that he was full and sleepy. Only 4mL, he might have either been so exhausted from crying that feeding on 4mL of formula was already very tiring for him or he became used to only having very little milk (when he was still breastfeeding) that 4mL satisfied his hunger already.
I felt great relief after that. It was the only thing that I wanted that time. My cousin advised me to stay for two weeks at their house so she can monitor Adriel's feeding pattern. I agreed and so I fed him using a medicine dropper while we stayed there. 4mL became 10ml, 10mL became 30 mL. And then 30mL became 60mL every 2 hours. We only stayed over for 1 week at my cousin's home because it seemed Adriel was doing pretty well with the dropper.
Haberman Feeder
Its nipple looks weird. Lol! It has a long teat where the baby sucks. and then a reservoir which can store about an ounce of milk and where you can squeeze the milk that goes out through the slit valve.The hole is very small that I had to make a bigger one through it. I guess, this is advisable for smaller infants to prevent aspiration.
Please watch the video.
Well, until he was 6 weeks. the 1mL-dropper was not enough for him anymore, and so, I looked for a 5-mL dropper and I was lucky enough to find one. But it was very inconvenient, the 5mL dropper was not sterilizeable. I had too soak it in warm water before I use it to feed him and the droppers wore off pretty easily, say around 3 days? It was really a waste of time and money. The 5ml dropper costs around 70 pesos on drug stores I think, and believe me, Adriel went through a lot of them. I think I have all the colors, and shapes already. Lol! So, I rummaged through Adriel's things and looked for the Medela one (Haberman). I watched a whole lot of instructional videos on how to use it. I tested it on Adriel which was very difficult by the way, because he already got used to the dropper that didn't require sucking and which also had a bigger hole that made easier for him to feed. So what I did was, (Please don't try to do this without consulting your pediatrician. I just ran out of options that time.) I made a bigger hole on the nipple of the Haberman feeder. I followed the measurement of the 5mL dropper that Adriel was used to and then tried it out. The first 24 hours was a nightmare! A nightmare I tell you, because he had to get used to the new feeding method I introduced him. I guess I had no choice at that time so there was no turning back. After the first 24 hours of feeding him using the Haberman feeder, he was finally able to feed properly. Sigh! Whew! but I only had one feeder! So I had to wash and sterilize it every single time he feeds! Lol! Imagine that! The feeder was really pricey, say around 2,000 pesos for one feeding bottle. I looked for an alternative which was the pigeon feeder (which I found out about online too) but couldn't find it in the malls. Big malls don't have it!!! So I had to purchase the Haberman one. Okay, fine, I said. I tried to look for a spare parts-center so I could only buy the parts and then just buy a cheap bottle to save a little, but there was none. Luckily, we were given a calling card when we bought the first bottle which was from Rustan's by the way, if you're wondering. So I looked for it. I found an email address for the main Medela branch in Manila so I emailed them right away. Whew again! They had spare parts!!! I ordered a pack of 3 Haberman nipples which I think costs around one thousand to two thousand pesos. 3 disk valves which costs 500 pesos each. I'm not really sure on the prices, but I can remember that the total was around 5 thousand pesos for all the items including shipping. Insane! I know. But what choice did I have?
And so the items were shipped. They didn't have the collar which I had to have to completely assemble the feeder. And so I went to a not so big mall near our house to buy extra feeding bottles for the new nipples and valves that were arriving soon and then I had this idea to bore a bigger hole through the collars that came with them to complete the feeder. And guess what? while I was looking for cheap bottles, I saw the pigeon feeder!!! Yeah the cheaper alternative for the Haberman feeder was displayed on that mall which I didn't find anywhere else, but there. It only costs 499.75 pesos per bottle. Lol!!! I already ordered the items so with a heavy heart, I still purchased three cheap extra bottles and carried on with what I had in mind.
Everything went absolutely fantastic, except for the fact that I could have saved a lot of money if I have just seen the pigeon bottle before I ordered the Haberman spare parts!!!! Well, until Adriel's 6th month, the Haberman nipples were starting to wear off. Maybe because the hole I made on the Haberman nipples. Adriel started to have hiccups frequently and then vomited a little some of the times after feeding. He could also finish a full 180mL of milk in two minutes. Acid reflux, I was not really sure but all the signs were pointing to it. I am not a doctor so I took my chances. Please don't diagnose your babies! Please don't do the things I did. Please always talk to your pediatrician whenever you have concerns. Lol! Because I informed my cousin ( who is my pediatrician) about these things.
So, the next most logical step was to buy the Pigeon feeder! Lol! So I immediately went to that mall and got myself two bottles. One bottle comes with two sets of rubber nipples and two sets of valves. Luckily, the Pigeon feeder's collar has the same size with most regular feeding bottles. ( most, but not all so always compare!!!) So I have now 4 Pigeon feeders! Yay! Introducing a new feeder isn't easy just like the first time, so the first 24 hours was still a nightmare. But now, all is pretty well. Whew!!!
Pigeon Feeder
It's more convenient than the Haberman one because it has a cap and it looks like the ordinary feeding bottles.
Nipple:
There are two sides of the nipple. The harder one and the softer one. The harder one should be on top with the air vent. and the softer one, at the bottom so the baby's tongue can easily press on it upwards and extract milk my doing so.
The hole on this nipple is bigger than that of the Haberman's so I didn't need to make a bigger hole through it. I guess this is best for older babies, say, 6 months. ( Please always talk to your pediatrician, before introducing anything to your baby, okay?)
Valve
The valve makes it easier for babies to suck and it also prevent the baby from ingesting too much air since it creates a one way flow. The air then goes out through the air vent.
Please watch the video.
I hope this post can help a lot of moms and babies.
It's not easy to raise a child. Especially for first time moms. Let alone children with cleft lip and palate.
P.S. Insane patience and determination, you have got to have it!
Having a cleft is not the single hardest condition a child could have. I hope parents would always see the child and not the defect.
Questions? Contact Me! Click the Contact Me tab on top!. :)
Xoxo,
Yinyin
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